11/11/2025
Nancy Pardue Scheerer, 96
November 10, 2025
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Nancy Pardue Scheerer, 96, formerly of Essex Fells, NJ and East Hampton, NY, died peacefully on October 31 at her home in Duxbury, MA.
Nancy was born in Hibbing, MN in 1929 to the Rev. Austin Pardue and Dorothy Klotz Pardue, both of Chicago, IL. She graduated from Miss Porter’s School in CT and the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary, and also attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology’s Drama School, in Pittsburgh, PA where her father had become Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. She started her career as Director of Occupational Therapy at the Gracie Square Hospital in New York and also used her artistic talents working for Bonwit Teller in New York designing the display windows.
Growing up, she spent time with her family in East Hampton, NY, where she first met Joseph D. Scheerer, Jr. They were married at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton in 1959. She and Joe soon settled in Essex Fells, NJ (near Llewelyn Park in West Orange where Joe’s father and grandfather lived) where she was a devoted mother to daughter Hillary and son Dan. Throughout her life, she took the ministries of her father very seriously, serving others in so many ways for as long as she was able. Early on, she and Joe regularly hosted campers from Boys and Girls Harbor, a former summer camp for underprivileged children in Sag Harbor, NY, for events at their summer home in East Hampton. She taught ceramics and art classes from their home in Essex Fells, as well as serving on the town’s Zoning Board. Nancy volunteered in Newark, NJ with OAR (Offender Aid and Restoration), working to help incarcerated women overcome their challenges and succeed in life after prison. She served on the board for many years and received their Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Service in 2005. She also worked tirelessly for PATCH (Parents and Their Children) as part of OAR, helping coordinate transportation to reunite incarcerated mothers with their children. She developed relationships with many of those women and children and continued to consult with, and serve as a resource, long after their release from prison.
Among her many artistic talents, she provided calligraphic services to local organizations producing cook books, pamphlets, brochures and other printed materials. Known early for her ceramic endeavors, she also became a talented painter in acrylics and watercolors and loved to sketch children’s scenes, also used in a number of local print opportunities. She was an avid tennis and paddle player as a member of the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, the Fells Brook Club in Essex Fells, and the Jupiter Island Club in Florida.
Nancy was preceded in death by Joe in 2019. She is survived by her daughter, Hillary L. Scheerer of New York City and East Hampton, Daniel A. Scheerer of Jaffrey, NH and Duxbury, MA, his wife Nancy L. Scheerer, and their four children, Margaret (Mollie) Scheerer Proctor, her husband Connor and their daughter, Lucy; D. Austin Scheerer, Jr., R. J. Durand Scheerer, Jane I. Scheerer, and nephew, David Pardue.
The family would like to thank the wonderful women who cared for Nancy for so many years: Ann Morse, Cindi Travers, Carolyn McWirk, Jeanine Walsh and Taylor Costello and their predecessors. They made her last few years comfortable, happy and lively. A private family service will be held to celebrate her life at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations should be given to Crossroads, a summer camp and year-round program to support disadvantaged youth with headquarters in Duxbury, MA. Checks should be made out to “Crossroads”, Attention: Development, 119 Myrtle St., Duxbury, MA 02332.
